The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has accused regulatory body of Nigerian polytechnics – the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) of aiding and abetting Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun state to callously and unnecessarily waste the academic years of the students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Abeokuta by relocating the school to virgin land in Ipokia without a recourse to human and non-human resources required for take-off a new polytechnic.
Executive of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) being led by Timothy Ogunseye, National Vice President and Olawale Omobaorun, Southwest Zonal Coordinator rose at the emergency meeting held at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic in Abeokuta to address press conference on Tuesday where it declared that its members would not go to Ipokia for academic activities in new Ogun State Polytechnic if tangible efforts were not done to provide classrooms and structures required for take-off.
It will be recalled that Governor Ibikunle Amosun had relocated the Ogun State Polytechnic to a virgin land at Ipokia in Ipokia local government area, about three-hour drive from Abeokuta, Ogun state capital where the school is currently located and bears Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, but the upgrade of the school to Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology (MAUSTECH) and relocated the school to Ipokia, while reverting it to Ogun State Polytechnic, the hitherto name it bore before government renamed it after the acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993 Presidential Poll, Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.
Leading the speech against the abrupt relocation of the polytechnic to Ipokia, the National Vice President of ASUP said, “Our position in this regard is that there must be a gestation period during which people can move people from Abeokuta to Ipokia, and we are of the opinion that there is nothing wrong if the polytechnic as well as the University can co-exist for the next three years, from there our members can now move to Ipokia, by which time we expect the level of infrastructure in Ipokia to have been upgraded.
“As we speak, we have nothing on ground in Ipokia, and please we need to correct this impression, ASUP MAPOLY or any staff is not against the establishment of polytechnic in Ipokia. All we are saying is that where you even do that, issues surrounding staff career development, students’ comfort, and all these issues have to be looked into.
“Honestly, if that programme is to work, we expect the government to spearhead a mass house resolution in Ipokia where accommodation would be available for staff and students, and where classroom blocks, laboratories, workshops, all those things would have been built before we consider the movement at all. Otherwise, all they are just trying to do now is to rounder around it and asking our colleague to be facing all this hardship and sufferings, and we are saying all this thing should not be. We are not doing this because of our members alone but because of the students which the institution will produce.
“We are calling on the regulatory authority, NBTE, they should not sanction illegality, they cannot come and accredit a programme in a place where there are no classrooms, buildings, workshops, and laboratories. If there is anything at all, the entire infrastructures here belong to MAPOLY, if the government wants to have a change of name to Ogun State Polytechnic, there is no problem about that, but all these assets here belong to the polytechnic system. Let the university take off on a clean slate by government acquiring its own assets, they cannot retain the buildings and ask people to move to a place, I will call virgin land for now because there is no infrastructure in place.”
Also, Olawale Omobaorun, the former Chairman of MAPOLY ASUP and current Zonal Coordinator of Southwest ASUP, added, “Let the government of the day listen to the people, let them look into all the proposals put across through communiqués and letters. Let the government of the day invite this chapter for thorough discussion. Let the regulatory body – NBTE speak out. Have they accredited Ogun Poly?
“Unofficially, you know the union has its way of getting information and as far as everything is concerned, there is no Ogun Poly. But, we are annoyed, we are disappointed that the regulatory body has refused to talk if they speak out that there is no accreditation covering for Ogun Poly, all of this will be put to rest, but we all know Nigeria, all of this is politics.
“This press conference by the National Secretariat is to tell the world that this fight is not for the state chapter alone, it is a fight for ASUP as a whole. Permit me to say, writing exams or not writing exams is not our problem, but the point is we don’t have enabling environment to conduct exams. The chapter is not on strike, we are on duty. The only problem is that we don’t have an enabling environment, the psyche of people are being killed.
“So, that is the true picture. They, Egba people are saying they want a university, but must you kill a 36- year old which is MAPOLY for day old? This is a chapter that has been self-financing since this government has been in office. If we want to count, about two three occasions, they have given the polytechnic N11million, but this same government has taken money from MAPOLY. It is quite obvious, it is not easy to fund education particularly university education. Can we authoritatively say the money is available in the state?”, he concluded by asking the question.
RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta
